A few walks around Southport (3) Crossens to Marshside

Sketch map of Southport

Crossens Marsh is the point where the Sefton Coast meets the Ribble Estuary Nature Reserve. It's worth a look at any time of year but really comes into its own in Autumn and Winter with wildfowl and waders in their thousands and a good chance of seeing a variety of raptors. It's a good walk most times of the year but wrap up warm in Winter because the wind has teeth.

If you've the time and energy, and the weather's not misbehaving, you could walk from Southport to Crossens along the Marine Drive. Or you could get the bus to Marshside and walk up from there, or stay on the bus and get off at the big roundabout at Crossens. The first turning on your left at the roundabout is the start of Marine Drive.

Walking down from Crossens to Marshside you have two choices: stick to the Marine Drive or take the path down the back of the RSPB reserve down to Marshside Road. In Winter I'd definitely stick to the Marine Drive as I'd want to check out the Crossens Outer Marsh for wildfowl and raptors. It's worth taking the other path in Autumn to see if any unusual waders have turned up — there have been long-staying long-billed dowitchers on this part of Crossens Inner Marsh. If you're walking down the Marine Drive in Autumn take the time to check out the golden plovers on Crossens Inner as there have been a couple of American golden plovers there. You can also easily see large numbers of wigeon, teal, black-tailed godwits and lapwings on here as you walk along Marine Drive.

Pink-footed geese

Walking down to Marshside along the Marine Drive, cross the road where the paved footpath stops by the water treatment works. Be careful here: it's busy and the traffic is fast around that bend. The shared footpath/cycle way continues all the way down into Southport. The footpath through the gate takes you on to Banks; I've not explored that area much yet though it's very good for wildfowl.

Crossens Outer Marsh

Crossens Outer Marsh is part of the Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserve. The reserve is huge and sometimes looks empty but if you look closely, particularly in Winter, there's a lot of wildfowl out there. Teal and wigeon are often quite close to the road, geese — Canada, greylag and, particularly, pink-footed geese — tend to be further out though small groups will fly quite low across the road as they move from one part of the marsh to another. More exotic geese will sometimes fly in with the pink-footed geese so it's worth spending a lot of time scanning round for anything unusual. For instance, last Winter I saw barnacle geese, a taiga bean goose, a tundra bean goose, a Russian white-fronted goose and a snow goose and missed quite a few others that people had managed to find. (So far this Winter I've seen a Greenland white-fronted goose nearby at Banks Marsh but it's been very mild and it's early days yet.)

Snow goose and pink-footed geese

Near the beginning of the walk from Crossens there are a couple of pull-ups where wildfowlers park. The field around this area is very boggy and quite popular with meadow pipits and pied wagtails. Have a good look round here: it's a favourite area for finding wintering water pipits.

A kestrel, merlin or peregrine may flash over the marsh at any time. Looking further out in the marsh, check out the fence posts for perching raptors; there's usually a buzzard or a peregrine somewhere out there and you may strike lucky and see a marsh harrier or, in Winter, a hen harrier (you're more likely to see them cruising the distant salt marsh putting the fear of God into the skylarks). I've never had any luck with short-eared owls here though other people have seen them quite regularly.

Eventually you'll get to the fence that marks the boundary between Crossens Marsh and RSPB's Marshside reserve. This is the point at which I usually cross the road to check out what's on the pools on Marshside Inner and walk up to the Sandgrounders hide and then a bus back into Southport from Marshside Road.

A few walks around Southport (2) Marshside

Sketch map of Southport

Marshside is well worth a few hours' attention any time of year. In Winter there are ducks, geese and golden plovers in their thousands, in Summer there's a large breeding colony of black-headed gulls and breeding avocets, and the Spring and Autumn migrations can throw up some nice surprises.

If you've the time and energy, and the weather's not misbehaving, the walk from Southport along the Marine Drive can be productive. Similarly a walk down from Crossens. Alternatively, you could get a bus from Southport:

• The 44 will take you to Marshside Road and the centre of the RSPB reserve
• The 40 will take you to Hesketh Road and the southern end of the reserve

I'm not a local so there may be a few more options worth exploring. 

If you're planning on getting the bus there and back it might be worth your while buying a Saveaway ticket from the office in the station.

To Marshside Road

Turn right as you come out of the station and carry on walking and you'll cross London Road and onto Hoghton Street. The bus stop for the 44 is a few yards down the road. This bus goes out to Crossens via Marshside. The blue line on the map follows the bus route as far as the bottom of Marshside Road, get off here and walk a hundred yards or so down to the RSPB reserve.

Marshside from Marine Drive

You've now got four choices:

• Carry on down to the bottom of the road and follow the path round to the main hide, Sandgrounders.
• Carry on down to the bottom of the road, turn left, have a look at the Junction Pool on the corner and then follow the path down to Nels Hide.
• Turn right and take the path along the back of the reserve and walk down to Crossens (the red line running north-east on the map).
• Turn left and take the path along the back of the reserve and through the golf course down to Hesketh Road (the red line running south-west on the map).

The first two options give you good views of the pools. The last two get you a bit closer to some of the waders on the smaller pools and ditches. Given time, energy and decent weather conditions in Autumn a full circuit of the reserve is well worth the effort.

Black-tailed godwits

In Winter there are a lot of wildfowl — greylag and pink-footed geese, wigeon, pintail, teal, shoveler and tufted ducks — and huge numbers of waders, mostly black-tailed godwits, lapwings and golden plover. Mallard and gadwall can be seen all year round, as can the little egrets. There's always a chance of seeing one or more of the cattle egrets that move around the Sefton Coast (if you're lucky enough to see one be careful to look for some more: there were up to half a dozen around this Autumn). 

Cattle egrets

Avocets breed here in Summer and Sandgrounders overlooks a large black-headed gull breeding colony which sometimes includes a few pairs of Mediterranean gulls.

Avocets and chicks, from the Sandgrounders Hide

Across the Marine Drive from Sandgrounders is the sand works. This is a working sand plant but there's a path that will take you around it and back to the car park at the junction with Marshside Road. In all but the very driest conditions this path is very wet so you'll need boots or webbed feet. Skylarks and meadow pipits make themselves obvious, in Spring and Autumn you'll find wheatears, white wagtails and whinchats passing through (ring ouzel are also regularly reported but I've not seen one yet). Ringed plovers nest here and little ringed plovers pass through on migration.

Walking north from Sandgrounders you can either follow the shared footpath/cycle lane on the left-hand side of Marine Drive or the rough path on the right-hand side. I tend to do the latter: you get a better view of the pools on the Inner Marsh to your right (and the bushes which may hold warblers or chats) and can still get the full panoramic view of the Outer Marsh as far as Blackpool Pleasure Beach to your left.

Marshside Outer Marsh and Blackpool Tower

The Outer Marsh may look deserted at first glance. You'll see skylarks, meadow pipits and kestrels all year round, occasionally even a marsh harrier. In Winter you've a good chance of seeing marsh harriers and merlins, occasionally a hen harrier, as well as big flocks of pink-footed geese, greylags and wigeons.

You've got a choice now: either turn round and retrace your steps and get a bus back to Southport from Marshside Road or continue down to Crossens and get a bus back from there. If you're going to Crossens you want the bus stop on the other side of Preston New Road, the last turning on the roundabout.

To Hesketh Road

Turn right as you come out of the station, walk to the end of the pedestrianised area and turn left onto London Road. Walk straight down the road, past the War Memorial and cross Lord Street at the lights. The stop for the 40 bus is a couple of stops down on your left. This bus goes to Crossens via Hesketh Road. On the bus keep an eye out to your right for Hesketh Park. The stop you want is the second one after the park. Alight here, walk down to the end of the road and turn left onto Hesketh Road. 

Halfway down the road, on your right, is the start of the path that goes through the golf course, along the back of the RSPB reserve and on to Marhside Road. A little further along here is the Hesketh Road platform, giving a good view of the pools at this side of the reserve and a long view across to Marshside Road. At the end of the road there's a seat that gives a nice view of this end of the reserve. 

You'll need to cross the Marine Drive here. Take care: it's a busy — and fast! — road. Turn right and walk up the road, keeping an eye on the opposite side for Nels Hide. It's slightly back from the road, mostly hidden by bushes; you're as likely to notice the path to it as the hide itself.

Tufted duck

Nels Hide overlooks a shallow pool with a few islands. During Winter there are large numbers of ducks on the water and geese further out on the grassy banks. Flocks of lapwing are joined by golden plovers in the damp grass over at the Marshside Road end. In Summer there are singing warblers and swallows sometimes nest in the hide. The wet mud attracts passage waders such as little stints.

The path from Nels Hide takes you to the junction of Marshside Road. There's a viewing point halfway along, just after a few Duke of Argyll's tea tree bushes, and another at the end overlooking the Junction Pool. And don't forget to keep an eye on the salt marsh across the road.

Cross Marshside Road and you can follow the path down to the Sandgrounders hide, cross the Marine Drive and have a nosy round the sand works or else turn right and walk up the road for the 44 bus stop back to Southport.

A few walks around Southport (1) Marine Drive to Marshside

Sketch map of Southport

Southport's easy enough to get to by train (so long as the services are behaving themselves!) and there's some good birdwatching within very easy reach of the railway station. There are also good bus services from Liverpool and Preston to the town centre. I don't claim to be a local expert — I try to get over there about once a month — these notes describe some of the routes I've explored and found useful.

This walk is the purple line on the map. If you have the time and energy the full 4½ mile walk through to Crossens can be very productive, though it can be a bit of a slog if the weather turns nasty. (If the weather does turn nasty you'll at least have the usual wind behind your back.) Otherwise you can just take a walk round the marine lake; turn off at Hesketh Road and get a bus back from Hesketh Park; or turn off at Marshside Road and get the bus back from the stop opposite the school.

Turn right as you come out of the station, walk to the end of the pedestrianised area and turn left onto London Road. Walk straight down the road to the Promenade at the end. Cross the Promenade and walk down over the bridge. This is a good stopping point to check out the Marine Lake. You could easily spend a long while walking round the lake: in Winter it's good for ducks and gulls, in Summer check out the little egrets nesting on the island — it's surely only a matter of time till cattle egrets join them.

Southport Marine Lake

Continuing on from the lake, past the retail park, cross Marine Drive at the Guelder Rose pub and have a look around from the sea wall. When the tide's out it can look like the salt marsh goes on forever. Looking out you'll usually see shelduck, redshanks, linnets and the occasional little egret. The shared footpath/cycle path takes you the couple of miles or so to Crossens. As you walk north away from the pier the marsh gets thicker. In Winter there's usually a few small groups of pink-footed geese and be careful to take a good look at the flocks of linnets that are kicking around as a good few of them will actually be twite. It's more of the same as you continue walking, with skylarks and meadow pipits, sometimes a stonechat or two, joining in as the ground gets slightly higher and drier. For all that Marine Drive is a busy road and the path is well-used there's a lot of bird life close to hand.

The junction with Hesketh Road is the beginning of the RSPB's Marshside reserve. Crossing the road here (carefully! it's a very busy — and fast — road) there's a seat giving you a good, though slightly distant, view of this corner of the reserve. About a hundred yards up the road there's a platform giving a closer view of the pool and right across this half of the reserve. In Winter there are large numbers of black-tailed godwits and wigeon, it tends to be quieter in Summer but it's always worth checking out (I saw my first glossy ibis from here).

Walking back and re-crossing Marine Drive carry on walking north. This seems to be the point where the salt marsh to your left changes character: the Winter flocks of geese and skylarks get bigger and your chances of seeing a bird of prey get better, usually a kestrel though I've seen peregrines and hobbies flying low over this area.

Pink-footed geese

Looking ahead you'll be able to see a rough mound on the horizon. This is the sand works opposite the main hide. As you approach the halfway mark between Hesketh Road and the sandworks keep an eye on the opposite side of the road for Nels Hide. It's slightly back from the road, mostly hidden by bushes; you're as likely to notice the path to it as the hide itself.

Nels Hide overlooks a shallow pool with a few islands. In Winter there are large numbers of ducks — pintail, wigeon, teal and tufted ducks — and waders, mostly black-tailed godwits and lapwings with a few ruffs and redshanks. There are usually little egrets to be found and surprisingly often you may see one or more of the cattle egrets that have taken a liking to the Sefton coast. In Summer the water retreats and — if it isn't a scorcher like 2018 — this part of the reserve attracts passage waders. Sedge and reed warblers nest near to the hide and swallows have been known to nest inside the hide.

Little egrets and cattle egret

The path from Nels Hide takes you to the junction of Marshside Road. There's a viewing point halfway along. In Winter golden plovers join the lapwings in the wet grass away at the back. In Summer some of the reserves breeding avocets nest within electric fences (to protect against foxes). And if you're lucky you may get something unexpected.

Glossy ibises

At the end of the path is another viewing point by Marshside Road, this time overlooking Junction Pool. More of the same, and very nice too.

Marshside Road cuts the reserve in two. In the next post I'll explain how to get to this point by bus and I'll describe the rest of the reserve. In the post after that I'll complete the journey to Crossens.